Big Buddies still here, and looking to expand

Contrary to what you may have heard, Big Buddies of Redwood County hasn’t moved; in fact, in some ways the youth mentoring program is expanding, said Redwood County Coordinator Leslie Myrom this week.

By Joshua DixonStaff Writer

Contrary to what you may have heard, Big Buddies of Redwood County hasn’t moved.It’s still located in its building in downtown Redwood Falls, at the corner of S. Washington and E. 2nd Streets.The confusion has come from the fact that one of the other social service organizations that used to share office space in that building had to move last month.But Western Community Action is still operating its two sub-organizations in the space: Big Buddies, and its regional bus service.In fact, in some ways the Big Buddies youth mentoring program is expanding, said Redwood County Coordinator Leslie Myrom this week.“We’ve been trying to do more community service activities, such as planting trees and cleaning up trash downtown,” she said this week in her office, which is exactly where it’s been for the past three years.About 50 area boys and girls from ages 5-18 are involved in the program.However, only 18 of those boys and girls currently have one-on-one mentors. The other 30 or so children are still waiting for grown-ups willing to spend time with them.“The biggest problem we have is many adults are scared to commit to being a mentor. It’s only a couple hours a week,” said Myrom.“When most adults become mentors, they really enjoy it. I was talking to one mentor recently who said, ‘I don’t know why I waited. I’m probably having more fun than the kid is!”To pay for all these activities, Big Buddies Redwood County has several fundraisers in the works. The most recent was the Wii Olympics, held at Cornerstone Church.“At our Wii Olympics, we raised just short of $5,000, which sort of shocked me,” said Myrom, adding the funds will be used for mentor background checks and training, and to pay for activities.The organization is also hosting an online auction from May 6-15 by selling off items donated by the community.For more information, contact Leslie Myrom at 507-530-1202, or at www.mybigbuddy.org.